The New York Times has run a piece on Spotify’s direct licensing deals with artists and management companies. While much of it is information already revealed earlier in the year, there are also some new snippets. For example, Beverly Hills-based company Human Re Sources (slogan: “We are not a record label”) says that it has received a ‘modest advance’ from Spotify to get its management firm up and running. According to its founder J. Erving, the company (in the NYT’s paraphrasing) ‘is able to pitch songs directly to Spotify’s internal teams — a rare advantage in the industry’s vast do-it-yourself landscape’. While placement on those playlists is not guaranteed, Erving told the newspaper that some of his artists have bagged slots on New Music Friday and RapCaviar.
Based on the firm’s Instagram (on which many posts are screenshots of Spotify playlists) those artists include YBN Nahmir, Riz La Vie, Always Never and Charlotte Lawrence. “Spotify has been very supportive of the stuff that we have released to date,” said Erving. “But Apple and Pandora have been very supportive as well.”
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